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As a mechanic we use Trans-X in many vehicles the stuff is amazing...!

Also a good cheaper alternative to full synthetic ATF is Valvoline Max life which is equivilant to full synthetic and is covered under manufacturers recommended fluids..Max life is great for vehicles with 75k or more...

The best way to keep 4eat /5eat trans life is to change fluids /filter every 30k . Also adding a trans cooler makes a difference as well.

An ATF flushing by the dealer or jiffy lube if they have the machine is the best way to insure all the fluid gets changed to fresh. just draining the 3/4qts from the pan will not get all of the old fluid out.

Don't forget to remove and clean the trans filter screen under the valve body...!

My problem was slowly getting worse on my '99. So, I drained the ATF, added Amsol synthetic ATF, and the Trans X additive. In my opinion, it is the Trans X that solves the problem. However, I think it is important to have good clean ATF in your trany.

It is the 99's and 00's that are prone to the Trany delayed forward engagement problem......................Larry (Rooster2)

Has anyone tried this fix using Valvoline Maxlife ATF? I'm considering going to a local valvoline center and having them do a complete flush using this fluid then adding the trans x after. Valvoline says that Maxlife can be used in any vehicle that requires dexronIII/mercon atf.

The flush and refill with new ATF is always a good idea. Be sure to take a can of Trans X with you for the shop to have them add when replentishing the ATF. If you wait to add it when you get home, you would be adding it when trany is full of ATF, adding the Trans X will over fill the trany by about a pint. It is not good to over fill the trany.

Hello, I am new to this forum. I bought a 1999 Legacy Outback wagon in September of 2008 as a work car for commuting 75 miles one way to work. I live in Pennsylvania where the winter roadways can often be challenging. I bought the car with this known trans problem. I had Trans fluid changed, and external filter replaced by Subaru dealer. Problem still existed. I spoke with dealer who said trans needs replaced, but a Subaru dealer in Moosic, PA (Minooka Subaru) will remove, rebuild, and re-install trans for approx. $2K. The Subaru dealer states that the "D" seal inside the trans is worn and fluid leaking by it, thus forward engagement is delayed. I need to rev. engine sometimes to 2500 rpm to engage. I was afraid of breaking the input shaft. I am glad I found this forum, and have been watching it for months now. I am usually skeptical about additives for anything to fix a problem, but saw the success of all those in this forum with the K&W Trans-X. With nothing to lose but $6.00 from the local Autozone store, I put it in several days and about 250 miles ago. Problem FIXED!!! I will keep all of you posted as to how this works over time. Thank you to all of you, I just may have saved thousands of dollars, for the time being anyway. Just for the record, I contacted Subaru of America with this problem, and they denied knowing of any transmission issue like this, and basically told me it was my problem, and they could not help with paying for the repair. "Kudos" to the makers of the K&W Trans_X additive.

Hello, I am new to this forum. I bought a 1999 Legacy Outback wagon in September of 2008 as a work car for commuting 75 miles one way to work. I live in Pennsylvania where the winter roadways can often be challenging. I bought the car with this known trans problem. I had Trans fluid changed, and external filter replaced by Subaru dealer. Problem still existed. I spoke with dealer who said trans needs replaced, but a Subaru dealer in Moosic, PA (Minooka Subaru) will remove, rebuild, and re-install trans for approx. $2K. The Subaru dealer states that the "D" seal inside the trans is worn and fluid leaking by it, thus forward engagement is delayed. I need to rev. engine sometimes to 2500 rpm to engage. I was afraid of breaking the input shaft. I am glad I found this forum, and have been watching it for months now. I am usually skeptical about additives for anything to fix a problem, but saw the success of all those in this forum with the K&W Trans-X. With nothing to lose but $6.00 from the local Autozone store, I put it in several days and about 250 miles ago. Problem FIXED!!! I will keep all of you posted as to how this works over time. Thank you to all of you, I just may have saved thousands of dollars, for the time being anyway. Just for the record, I contacted Subaru of America with this problem, and they denied knowing of any transmission issue like this, and basically told me it was my problem, and they could not help with paying for the repair. "Kudos" to the makers of the K&W Trans_X additive.

Glad the Trans-X fixed your problem. I added the product to my '99 about 10 months ago, and the trany continues to work well. I am not surprised that SoA publically denies any knowledge of this. They don't want to accept responsibility for anything outside of warranty, so acting dumb is their course of action.

Keep us posted on how your trany continues to work using Trans-X. This particular Subaru problem seems to affect only '99 and '00 models with automatic transmissons.

1600 miles since I added the Trans-X. Transmission still performing normally. ("knock on wood") I hope it stays fixed. I plan to follow Subaru's maintenance schedule, and have transmission fluid changed every 30,000 miles. At each Transmission fluid change you can bet I will always add a can of the K&W Trans-X. I hope folks with this same problem, find and read this thread so they can potentially save themselves big money on a transmission replacement or rebuild. I still cannot believe Subaru will not acknowledge this problem, and this Trans-X additive seems to work for every one who uses it. Some folks reporting that they have driven nearly 100,000 miles since they added the Trans-X, and transmission still performing normally. I have reported this additive finding to my local Subaru Dealer, and they cannot believe it. I will keep you all posted from time to time, and let you know how the transmission is working.

a few related questions to this thread...
1--I read about those putting in amsol synthethic in their tranny. Now if you have just regular (non synthetic) in your tranny and you drain out only 1/2 the amount (thru drain plug)....and replace with synthetic...well, that does not sound like the best move, no?
It's like having 2.5 quarts of synthetic oil and 2.5 quarts regular oil in your engine...

1. Best bet is to get out as much as possible, drain plug, pump and dump method, or if you are replacing the internal screen filter, see 2. below

2. Yes you have in internal suction screen filter. These don't really get dirty much since I think they are just filtering the suction to the ATF pump to keep chunks from getting in there. More like a pump suction strainer sort of thing than a 'filter'. But if you remove it (not hard to do, just like a lot of bolts on the pan and a few to remove after that to get the filter out. YOu have to remove a cooler pipe line in the process of getting the filter (easy, like 2 bolts), but the bonus is then a ton more fluid will come out, probably from the torque converter I guess. I think you can get all but maybe 1-2 quarts out this way. (She holds pret nar 10qts).

If the Trans-x is helping, it is because of its seal swell properties, probably makes that leaky ring on the drum swell enough to prevent the leaking it does at first preventing rapid buildup of pressure.

Someone asked if anyone used Max Life. I put about 4qts. of it in when I did the precautionary " I just bought a car with 100+k mi.- I'm changing ALL the fluids" change. So far, in my '02, it slips a little in forward engagement. It looks like another change, filter, and some Trans X are in my future.

a few related questions to this thread...1--I read about those putting in amsol synthethic in their tranny. Now if you have just regular (non synthetic) in your tranny and you drain out only 1/2 the amount (thru drain plug)....and replace with synthetic...well, that does not sound like the best move, no?It's like having 2.5 quarts of synthetic oil and 2.5 quarts regular oil in your engine...

Well, I have the half Amsoil syn ATF, and half regular ATF fluid in my trany. The synthetic is completely compatible with regualar ATF. I really don't know the advantages of syn ATF, but for the added price, I thought it may lube better then the regular stuff. At the time, I was having the delayed forward engagement problem, so adding the Amsoil seemed like a good thing to do to my car. However, I am convinced it is the Trans-X that fixed my trany.

On your 96, your Auto trany does not have an external filter. Subaru started doing that first on the 99 model. Yes, there is a filter type fine mesh screen that can be replaced when you drop the trany pan. However, I don't ever recommend changing the screen. Twice I have dropped the pan on two different cars to replace the screen, only to find it almost squeaky clean in both cases. Changing it was a waste of time. Not only that, cleaning off the old hard pan gasket to install a new pan gasket was hard, very hard work, and on one car the pan gasket continued to leak ATF after the gasket change. My opinion is to never ever drop the pan. Draining and replacing old fluid is the only maintenance to the auto trany over the life of the car.

If the trany ever went bad, I would still never drop the trany pan. There is nothing there that is servicable to give access to repair the trany. Buying a used trany is the best course of action.

I now have nearly 10,000 miles on transmission since I added the Trans-X. Transmission still performing flawlessly. Thanks to this forum, so far I believed the use of this Trans-X additive saved me thousands of dollars. I will periodically keep you all posted how things are working, as I put mileage on the car.

2 months later now... Are there any new things happened? Every transmission still fixed?

Having the same problems here in Belgium (Europe).

Read my story here below. Glad to read your feedback.

Greetz

Guy Cornet, Belgium

***************************************

First of all I need to say that I’m living in Belgium (Europe) so sorry for my bad English.

Our car is a 2000 subaru legacy III stationwagon 2.0 GL AWD automatic running on LPG. We own it since last year. We are the third owner; the previous owner was the service station owner’s son and the first owner was one of their customers. They always maintained the car and our problem never occurred with them.

From the beginning the car sometimes didn’t drive off when putting the gearlever in “D”. In “R”: no problem, but no moving car in “D” or “3” or “2” or “1”. Shutting down the engine and starting again doesn’t help. The only way to drive off is to step on the gas until the engine roars at (at least) 3000 rpm; after some shocks the car is moving forward, but you clearly feel that it isn’t “healthy”. From then on, the car drives completely normal.

Recently I found a way to reproduce this rare but dangerous problem. I was driving at some 60 km/h when I saw that the gated grade crossing was closed so I got my foot off the accelerator. By mistake I also shifted from “D” to “N” and as a result the car was slowing down very gently until a full standstill. When the train had passed by, the car would only drive off when I brought the accelerator at 3000 rpm. Again some “unhealthy shocks” but the car moved and I could continue my trip.

For a good understanding: this way I can always “provoke” the problematic behaviour, but in real driving conditions it occurs rather seldom and unpredictably, e.g. while doing a manoeuvre (and then it can be really dangerous). I completely can’t find any logic in occurrences of this problem. Heat, cold, humidity, dryness, … : sometimes it occurs frequently during a week or so, and sometimes the car drives trouble-free for some three weeks. The problem doesn’t arise when the gearshift stays in “D” or “3” or “2” or “1”.

Last year they checked the automatic transmission; there was some defect but it has been repaired. The problematic behaviour disappeared for a rather long while but gradually and slowly it came back. Could a bad contact in a plug / socket cause this? Or a dirty diode? I’m only thinking…

What is clear to us is that the car, when being parked for some while (can be two hours, can be a night), then most of the times needs some seconds to drive off from standstill. This is only the first time; once the car has driven some meters, it is fine for the rest of the drive.

Furthermore we notice that the car, exactly while shifting automatically from second to third gear, for a short time peaks to 3000 - 4000 rpm. This is rather often, but certainly when I’m driving calmly and I’m not accelerating quickly.

Is there someone who knows about these problems or recognizes it? It that case I would appreciate your help. In the service station they are in good faith, but they don’t know about these problems and until now they weren’t able to solve it. And here in Belgium (and the rest of Europe) there is less experience with automatic transmission than e.g. in the U.S. or Australia.

I’d like to receive your constructive feedback, that I will pass on to the service station. Myself I’m not very technically skilled but I’m good at thinking logically, maybe that can help too!

One question concerning this 4EAT problem (see previous post): I sometimes shift to "3" or "2" to use the engine break. Could this be the problem? It's not that I live in a very mountaneous area, and I'm not playing with it like a manual shifted car, but just asking if there are any "forces" that provoke the problematic behaviour?

Is there perhaps someone of you who is willing to try to brake on the engine just to check if that could be the problem?

Of course, you must be willing to do so; I hope it will not wreck your transmission. I always do it very gently.

I am thinking this way because before I bought the car, the problem didn't arise. So does it have anything to do with my driving behaviour?

2 months later now... Are there any new things happened? Every transmission still fixed?

Having the same problems here in Belgium (Europe).

Read my story here below. Glad to read your feedback.

Greetz

Guy Cornet, Belgium

***************************************

First of all I need to say that I’m living in Belgium (Europe) so sorry for my bad English.

Our car is a 2000 subaru legacy III stationwagon 2.0 GL AWD automatic running on LPG. We own it since last year. We are the third owner; the previous owner was the service station owner’s son and the first owner was one of their customers. They always maintained the car and our problem never occurred with them.

only way to drive off is to step on the gas until the engine roars at (at least) 3000 rpm; after some shocks the car is moving forward, but you clearly feel that it isn’t “healthy”. From then on, the car drives completely normal.From the beginning the car sometimes didn’t drive off when putting the gearlever in

Try a can of Trans-X, if you can find it in Belgium. I think it will help your transmisson problem.

It has been about 1 year now, and 10 thousand miles later. The Trans-X is still working. No more problem with Trany delayed forward engagement.

I would not recommend down shifting from 3 to 2 to slow the car down. Yes, an automatic transmisson will do this, but it is far better, and less expensive to replace brake pads sooner for slowing/stopping, then to replace drive train components that have failed because of added driving stress and wear.